Editorial: Obama goes for the gold

Wednesday

Sep 30, 2009 at 12:01 AMSep 30, 2009 at 12:16 AM

A few weeks ago, the White House hinted that President Barack Obama would not be part of the U.S. travel squad going to Denmark to pitch Chicago as the site of the 2016 Summer Olympics because of the pressing demands of health-care reform.

A few weeks ago, the White House hinted that President Barack Obama would not be part of the U.S. travel squad going to Denmark to pitch Chicago as the site of the 2016 Summer Olympics because of the pressing demands of health-care reform.

But now, says his press secretary, health care "is in better shape," so it's safe for Obama to leave, but not in good enough shape that he can leave for long.

The president is going to leave Thursday, work his magic on the International Olympic Committee on Friday and then fly right back to Washington. That's OK for him, not so good for his staff. He has a stateroom and a bed on Air Force One.

Obama will be joining a team that includes his wife, Chicago native Michelle, and Oprah Winfrey, two of the most famous women on the planet.

The rival contenders are Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, which will be represented by the heads of government of Spain, Brazil and Japan. This high-level lobbying began with then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was widely ridiculed for going to Singapore to make an in-person plea to the IOC. The critics shut up and a tradition was born when he returned with the 2012 Games for London.

The politics of the 106-member IOC are Byzantine, even by Chicago standards, so a personal appearance by a U.S. president is not a 100 percent guarantee of success. What IOC watchers do say, however, is that if Obama did not go, Chicago stood no chance, such is the size of the egos involved.

The capital punditocracy immediately began speculating on the political costs to Obama if he fails. Mitt Romney did a magnificent job of first salvaging and then staging the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, and that didn't do him a bit of good in his presidential run in 2008.

We like Michelle Obama's take: "You're darned if you do, you're darned if you don't. I'd rather be on the side of doing it."

As for her husband, in addition to health care, the economy, Iran and Afghanistan, the former U.S. senator from Illinois seems to have added the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau to his presidential portfolio.

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